The day was finally here, went to bed early, got up about 2:30am, and I was in the truck by 3am and I was on my way to Danville, Virginia, five hours later I was at the Hemp Conference. I took a moment to get some breakfast, and to collect myself after the long drive. Check in time was 8:30am and fortunately the drive went well, and I got there in plenty of time.
Now that I had gotten something into my stomach, it was time to learn all that I could learn about this new adventure. There was a long line at check in. We were at the Conference Center a relatively new building it was really nice. When it was my turn to get my packet. the young lady that was handing out the packets asked my name, and I said Carrington Henderson, she smiled and said, “Glad you could make it, I am the one you spoke with, it is so nice to meet you”. We chatted briefly because there was a long line and we had to get moving that day was going to be a busy day and it was.
There were speakers, vendors, government officials and well over a hundred people interested in getting into the hemp space. My main objective was to learn where I could source seeds. I came away with so much more valuable information than the cost of the trip and the thirty-five-dollar attendance fee. I met a lot of good people that day.
The conference started out with an overview of the 2018 Farm Bill that was signed into law by then President Trump, which allowed for the growing of hemp, with certain restrictions. Anyone wanting to grow hemp had to obtain a license from the state, pass a background check, register the field or fields where the hemp was to be grown, file a planting and harvesting schedule, have the hemp tested by the state, and if the hemp tests at a THC Level of more than .03 it had to
be destroyed, and verification of its destruction had to be filed with the state. Sounds like a lot, but it is not, and I know because I had to do every one of those things.
They did a breakdown of the hemp plant verses its very popular cousin marijuana, and the difference is the level of THC, this compound is what gives the high when people smoke it or ingest it. Hemp has high levels of CBD and low levels of THC, where Marijuana has high levels of THC and low levels of CBD. The chemical compound responsible for the high levels of THC is Delta 9. Though hemp does contain low levels of THC it is not enough to get you high. The CBD you get from hemp appears to have many different healing properties according to a June 30, 2023, article in Healthline by Dominique Fontaine and Jillian Kubala listed six health benefits of CBD Oil is that it may relieve pain, could reduce symptoms related to some mental health disorders, may alleviate certain cancer-related symptoms, may have neuroprotective properties, may benefit heart health, and other potential benefits.
While they were preparing us for lunch they move us to the vendors area, and this was where it started coming together for me, I met a bioengineer who studied at Virginia Tech University who had a twenty-five-acre farm he had been growing hemp since the 2018 Farm Bill went into effect. He was selling seeds, clones, and processing hemp into cbd oil and developing products he was really impressive. A really cool guy: however, the guy that really got the old ticker going was this old farmer from Virgilina, Virginia.
He said in his old southern drawl “What’s yaw here interest in this here thing.” I said “What do you mean?” He said, “Son what,    yaw looking for, cause I got it all, I got seeds, I got clones, I got mother plants, I” I cut him off and said, “What are mother
plants?” He said “What are mother plants? Well, that is where you get the clones from” I said, ” How do you” and then they         called us for lunch.
I almost had the key to the puzzle; I now knew it was within my grasp. Lunch was good not as much for the food but for the company, people from many different backgrounds coming together for a common goal, sharing stories, it was a really good time. After lunch, I had to find this guy, I looked and looked and I could not find him anywhere, what was I to do. It wasn’t long before an answer to my dilemma showed itself. During the last session, I looked around and I saw a table with a sign on it advertising clones. I made a mental note of that, and I was going to make a bee line to his table once the session was over.
For some reason, there was a pause and during this time I noticed a guy giving away hemp seeds, I watched for a while and then I ask the guy could I have some and he was talking to someone at the time, and he said that he would come over to me once he finished. He didn’t because other people kept grabbing his attention. Finally, I was able to pull him to the side, he gave me like 3 or 4 seeds, and his attention was drawn away again. I was excited that I had some seeds and then it suddenly dawned on me that, he might sell me some seeds. I let the crowd died down and approached him and asked would he sell me some seeds. What will twenty dollars get me, he poured some into my hand and I ended up leaving with about thirty-five seeds. At that time I did not know I had all the ingredients to produce a hemp crop at a discount.
This guy turned out to be a very valuable source, he worked for a company in King George, Virginia. They had a processor, and a fifty acre indoor grow facility. I grew up about an hour away from King George we at one time were rival High Schools. King George had a major population growth and they moved up in class. Everything I needed was there, these guys took me under their wings and showed me the basics and guided me alone the way. Now lets get back to the conference. Near the end of the day they lets us get together and socialize talk with the vendors, and I made my way to table where the guy was advertising clones. That’s when it all started to come together.
I introduce myself and ask what is a clone and how do you get them? He said a clone as in science fiction is an exact copy, and the way you get a clone is to make a cutting of a plant such as the plant that you see in front of you. I said, “You mean, like when my Momma would snip off her plants and put them in jars filled with water” He said “Just like Momma”. All the pieces were in play.
It was now time for us to go our separate ways, with all this newfound information running through my head, the new contacts, and now knowing that I can use the seeds that I purchased grow plants and from those plants I can produce clones. From only a few seeds I can produce hundreds of clones reducing a lot of upfront costs. That was a very good day!
Until next time